Our Rural Municipality is getting a new M series grader possibly next month. Do you think it's the right choice? We've always had Cat and have 2002 and 2007 H series now. Waiting for remarkes. Thanks
Yes!
There's a good discussion going on right now in the "Deere Graders" thread on this site. I would say go where you get support. If you are currently being supported well with CAT, stay with them. If you are asking which brand machine is best,,, hold on for a lengthy, heated discussion!!! :tong I've ran DEERE machines since 1989 and I'm very happy with them. I'm governmental as well and we trade every four years so I can't speak to longevity. I like the operational friendliness of a DEERE machine. For snow pushing the productivity of our JD770D versus our neighboring township's 140M is not comparable. I finish my roads in half the time. Last year they resorted to a dozer to open some drifted areas. Those comments outta stir the pot a little!!!
Ouch! Richard I think they had more snow than you did Maybe the snow was wetter and heavier Sounded like a good excuse or excuses.... LOL Regards, Randy
only thing I dislike about Deere is when I first jump on one, I kill it for the first 3 or 4 go's... do know why ...I guess they just don't have the same torque to start a cut as a Cat ,... Really don't have a preference as long as the inside is clean, and I don't have to throw a dozen smelly tree air fresheners out the door. GAWD those smell awful...
Yeah, that's probably it Randy!!! You goin back out on the ice this Winter??? Look forward to your reports. Our weather man is saying we'll have a lot less snow this winter, so I figure we'll get hammered!!! ointhead
I never noticed that problem until we got the G model. I've tripped the antistall a couple times. I attribute it to being so quiet and isolated I can't yet "feel" the engine. I've only ran a 140M a few hours. I didn't think it had near the torque that our JD770D had. The 140M's operator complained about it being underpowered when he first got it, says he's used to it now. I live on a paved road with a slight hill going by my place. When he goes by in road gear he loses a lot of speed climbing that incline. Our Deere blows over it easily. I've not done any heavy work with one though so I can't say which has the most useable torque. I sympathize with you guys that share a machine with other operators. I'd not do well in those situations. I'm very picky about the inside of the cab. Heck I live in there!!! I expect it to be clean and tidy. Our D model was four years old when we traded it and the cab still had that new machine smell. Tree air fresheners,,,,, NO WAY!!!
Richard Yes; I will be headed back to the North Slope soon. We’re just waiting for some more snow to accumulate before we start pre-packing the route. Right now we have about 30 miles of iceroad to do for Savant Oil and they are bidding on some more work for two other oil companies. It should be a good/busy winter. I agree with you on the weatherman; we just take it as it comes! Regards, Randy
So far we have more snow than last year and temps are running lower. Regards, Randy
Randy, I live vicariously thru you so post your adventures up there when ya can. I've noticed when the Winter weather is bad in the Alaska area and/or the Northeast lower 48, we here in Northern Missouri have a good Winter. I hadn't checked Alaska yet, but the Northeast has had crappy weather for a couple months now. They are already getting heavy snow. So if that trend continues we should be okay here. Our weatherman is predicting 18-21" of snow for the entire Winter. Last year we were close to 50". Also predicting slightly warmer temps than normal. That part has a dark side, we will get more ice. I've retired from my full time military career this month after 40 years. Now I can devote my time to running the grader at a much more leisurely pace. I'm blessed with a good machine so I'm looking forward to this Winter's work.
First off Richard, Thanks!!!! for your service to this country and to people like me! Second off, we havent had enough snow yet to move. Highs the last few days are in the 40's and 50's so the inch we had last week is all gone. Weathermen........huuuumppppphhh. In Sept and Oct. they were saying that Nov was going to be bad for cold temps and snow, we showed them!!
:stirthepot ovrszd.....you need to try a real grader if you want to push snow......14h or 14m......:lmao
I'll bet that's right!!! I've only saw a couple on construction sites as I'm driving by. Always think I'll get up close to one someday and get to really see their size. CAT makes so many sizes. They definitely fill niches that no one else does!!! Our first DEERE was a 670B. Our current 770G outweighs the 670B by approximately 15K lbs and has 100 hp more plus running on 17.5 tires. When we bought the new 670B 22 years ago I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Things have sure changed a lot!!!
The South Dakota township here has been there and done that, 140G, 140H, 140M, 140M AWD. Some extra learning going from H to M, but around here everyone passed the class and I do not hear requests to "go back". The M graders do a few things differently, such as the throttle. Cab is nicer in my opinion. Our CAT dealer is well committed to making the M's work, our machines have been kept running when we need them to run, several service calls for update/safety issues that are done when the machine is not in use. I would venture to predict you will be a happy customer.
The deal is signed and we are getting a 160M for spring delivery. Also a Capital I one way plow. Very little snow here to try it on but maybe the snow will come later. Merry Christmas to everyone. Have a great 2012 also.
Well we made our Cat salesman happy this week....We're flipping our 6 graders for another 6 new ones (third 14M series batch for us now)...we usually trade them in before we get to 4000 hrs. I was guaranteed that I won't have any of the previous issues. Time will tell....
Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum but it is fun to look at all the pics and stories from everyone. I am an older grader operater myself but have been operating a D-8T in the last four year. Kind of a nice break for me but I am missing a grader a lot now days. Only a few years left till retirement. The first Grader I ran was an Austin Western Super 300. Don't know if a lot of you know what that is for sure. It was old hahaha.. I ran lots of those ole Cat 99E's and thought I was in heaven when I got to run a 12F. I ran a John Deere 772 for about 3 years. It was a pretty good machine too. 120G. That was when the G series first came out. I thought that was great till I ran a big grader. Went from that 120 to a 14G. Gosh what a difference. I think to this day that was still the best grader I was ever on. The grader that I run and have run for the last 10 years is a 160H. It is a pretty good grader but getting way too old and wore out. If there is any finish blade men out there you know what a pain in the rear it is to blue top with a loose machine. I can say that I operated a 140M but not for long. I was blue topping at the time and it was too fast for me and it was eating my lunch. I didn't have too much trouble with the controls except the steering. What I didn't know how well would work is blue topping beside curb and gutter. I could see me tearing up a lot of it. I asked the Cat Tech why you couldn't turn the Hydraulics down on it as you can set the Hydraulics to three different setting on the D8T and several other Bulldozers. The Cat M has an excellent view from inside the cab. I would like to run one some more on good open ground. I think they would be great for most other applications. Well it's time for this old windbag to shut up for awhile. It's great reading the stories. Maybe I can did up some of my pictures and send them your was as well.
Welcome Radrock. Another Missourian!!!
cool another AW300 operator. Ran mine today plowing snow. Our city has a new 14M and most like it. The Airport runs Volvo's and don't like the way the blade drops when running off blacktop onto the dirt.
I would like to add a comment as what is the best Grader. But I can't as I have never used a Grader in Snow. ( thank you my lord ) AHMEN lol Ask me about heat dust and Rough. As in Aussie Outback and such The H series is a killer well made tractor. The M's um not yet.
You should try plowing snow at 30 miles an hour and -30 temp. Great fun when you run off the road.
Although this winter is very good, hardly any snow. Went to scrape ice a couple of times and thats about it
Par for the course.
I love my H Series and have already played with the joystick simulator @ Ring Power. I think the M series has a great view!
I like my G and my H but I really want to try out an M!!! I think the visibility is awesome
Looking down at the ends of the moldboard thru the corner of the cab, they are great. Looking straight forward, not so great....
Hi everyone. I haven't been here in a while. Where are you from overszd? I'm live around Joplin. And Dwan Hall a super 300 operator. In its day it was quit a mean machine. I too belong to IUOE. Sounds like I may have to go plow snow at the airport Monday. Will be the first time this year here. Hope everyone is doing well
The m series you can change the hyd. settings. You have fine, normal ,or coarse. Great machine and the steering not much of a problem at all., just dont death grip it.
Most ppl have trouble with the steering because they have a tight grip on the handle, try running the M with just your finger tips
Yeah I knew they came out with that later. It was not available on the model I demo'd
I'm North of KC, six miles from Iowa.
I would not concider my self a grader operator, more of a self instructed student still in 2nd. grade. with less then 500 hours in the seat I have a long way to go. I can take the A W 300 apart down to the last bolt and put it back together though. that was 1st grade. I beleave it was first with all wheel drive and also first with all wheel steer. could also been the first grader to have a 360 degree rotating blade. But ofcorse todays machines have so much improvement on the old designs it does not compare.
OK, Well you haven't had too much snow either this year have you?
There was a Pacer 300 with only 4 wheels. We had an old township that had one. It started on Gasoline and then switched to diesel. I never ran it but it had the rear steer as well. I remember the hydraulics being super slow on the super 300 that I was operating. But it was a horse. You had to basically stand in the seat or lean against it.
Here is a few pictures from a few years back of my snow plowin days. This was in Northwest Arizona near the four corners area. It was an oil patch lease that I maintained. Plenty of this particular year and there were some pretty steep grades there.
Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing
Nice pics George. I go Jeepn in Colorado a lot. In early Summer up high the snow is still piled pretty high from the dozer and grader jockeys having been there. I don't how they keep from driving off the side of the mountains in some spots. Wouldn't wanna be half asleep up there. We're getting a couple inches this morning. Most snow we've had all Winter, if you wanna call this Winter.
Yeah we got a couple inches our self. I'm was born and raised in Colorado. Pueblo but after I got out of the service I lived in Westcliffe, Colorado for several years. Lots and lots of snow there. It was 9000 feet in the valley. I seen it snow there as early as September. I used to run an old FWD truck with an v-plow and a wing. That was fun as heck busting snow drifts with. Wish I had some pictures of those days
Great forum here, don't know how I missed it on the net before now. And now, cutting right to the chase on the OP about CAT M Series Graders, this is the first really, really big design mistake Caterpillar has ever released onto the market. Let me surmise the problem, in my opinion. The M was CAD engineered in the cubicle by tech wonks who couldn't cut the end off a good cigar with a SKil saw, much less cut grade. It was field tested by old guys who didn't dare render their honest opinion. Too close to retirement to blow that. Better to blow some smoke up junior's pants leg instead, and hope to make it out through the front door. Having run motor graders over a 36 year time span, mostly CATS, from knuckle-knocker E's M's model, I can assure interested parties the M is an ill-fitting POS wherever the rubber meets the dirt, concrete, asphalt, snow, etc. Most problematic for me was the joystick steering and the touch hole wheel lean. Watch an experienced operator on one. He's constantly working those two features to stay in alignment. You aren't going to shave the paint off many bluetops like that. These machines are a real risk while roading in traffic due to the potential for abrupt and unexpected directional changes if a joystick is struck. Most telling is that Deere has opted to keep offering the industry standard controls along with the traditional steering wheel on it's graders. That speaks volumes. Having not been on an M in four years now, I acknowledge there may be some refinements I am not up to speed on. But I'm very sad to say that if I were looking for a new grader today based on what I do know, it would not be a CAT.
I don't know why cat didn't keep a few h model type graders for us old timers that has CRS. How many younger operators even know what blue tops are? That's old school stuff. Welcome to the forum but I'm still a newbie too. There seemed to be lots of people know their stuff. Your never too old to learn!!!
Not yet enable to start new threads, so I'll intrude here for the time being. The large 3-day Ritchie Bros. auction in Orlando, FL ran over 150 motor graders through the ring this morning. Great was to check out current fair market value prices. Go to VIEW to see machines and selling prices. I thought the larger graders tended low, but they sure did not give away the Noram 65E and FiatAllis FG65C's. Enjoy: http://www.rbauction.com/
Yeah the owner of our company is down there. Looked like a pretty big sale I was looking on the site last night. Might be a grader he,s looking at. The newest we have is a 98 12H. Bout 15000 he's on it.
See this Grader here boy's. It's a 12H brand new that I was operating in 2010 and it's made in China. Yep and she went well to wouldn't know the difference. It had made in China stamped all over it. I told one of the Cat blokes that came out to repair the 12M ( for the 10th time ) about it, and he reconds that there not supposed to be making them. lol :beatsme Btw im not very impressed with the M series at all give me a series 2 14H or 140H anytime.:drinkup
You would think it would have he new black fuel tanks. I really think if I was to get a new blade I'd rather have an H series. Too c lose to retirement to learn new stuff
Well finally our 160M is coming tomorrow. Time will tell if it was the right choice.
No Radrock she's a series 1 12H lookie lookie. had all the gear. I thought Cat had enough trouble in china just with there truck engines. This i don't know what the hell is going on. But I can assure you she was a brand new series 1. and that was early 2010 in South Australia. :usa
Radrock, the trouble with the M series is not so much about learning new stuff as it is the basic design and operational characteristics are not favorable to critical close-tolerance work. Indeed, they rule such performance by the operator and machine out. And then there's the thread about the operator whose joystick steering ran him off a bridge in cold weather with a malfunction. That's about as uncritical and low tolerance as it gets. Watch the guys who swear by the M's. They were raised on joystick games. But most can barely hit the ground with the blade, absent GPS controls.
Yeah I saw that, I was giving you a hard time about it being made in China hahaha when stuck in the mud. Well maybe you went stuck but it sure looked like it.
Blue Top, Yeah I know what you mean. And I think there is probably a place for the M's. I ran a 140M for a few hours about 4 years ago. I was bluetopping but not against curb and gutter. I had all of the controls figured out but I didn't like how the steering worked at all. When I'm bluetoping next to curb and gutter, I rub the end of the moldboard pretty tight against the curb. There is no shovel work to do when I'm done. When I am steering I often just use my wheel lean to make minor adjustments and the blade sideshift as well to keep it tight. Your a real blade man when you can grab three or four levers at the same time to do what you want to do. The problem I noticed with that M that I ran was that the wheel lean and blade side shift is all controled by buttons. They worked way to fast and you had no control of that. With the H or G you do. I loved the visibiltiy on the M and I think blading haul roads, county roads, and even some grade work would be swell with them.. I'd really like to operate one again when I had time to play rather than being rushed to get base rock laid. Anyhow, I have a pretty good old 160H with lots of hours and a little loose so I guess I stick with it for the rest of my days. Oh heck who am I kidding. I work for a contractor, I guess I'll do what ever he tells me to do hahaha.
There will never be real blade men anymore if all they know is the M Series. I was talking with The Cat Man yesterday about the M's. He said CAT has done extensive updates on the early units, but have most of the related problems solved now. I'd have to see it to believe it. After all, CAT was basically fraudulent to begin with in marketing the M but not disclosing the problems it had. I would really like to see if John Deere, who retained the traditional grader control pattern as optional, had gained any market share from CAT in introduction of the M Series machines. The CAT rep indicated joystick steering safety issues were the most pressing issue. Roger that from what I experienced. I would not be surprised to find some product liability suits against CAT related to the M Series. Truth be told, these days, give me a CASE or DEERE grader over an M any day of the week. I realize that is blasphemy to some. Best advice I can give is, get over it and get on with it with some other grader. omg, did he day case? :ban
555 Komatsu don't look to bad. no I haven't driven one but I did see one of the brochers. Thats what cat should have done. see if I can find the link for yas. :drinkup
I haven't seen a Komatsu for a long long time but I do remember that the articulation joint was in front of the cab instead of behind on the older models. wonder it is still the same? I think that it was a mistake for keeping an H model an option for contractors who didn't want to use the M series. I had often said that I wish an H model had a front steering lever next to the articulation handle for some occasions. But like I said before. I often use the wheel lean for small steering corrections so I don't have to take my hands off of the steering wheel.
An oilfield contractor I worked for in 98-99 rented a Komatsu grader. Word back to us was you could see it wearing out daily. Other than that it was about like a CAT. Hopefully an upgrade in steel quality fixed the wear problems. Komatsu sure makes a good, and fast, trackhoe.
Here she is http://www.komatsu.co.nz/Equipment/Pages/Motor Graders/GD655-5.aspx have a squizzo :drinkup And someone has already put this thread up in here
Here is a link for a video for the Komatsu GD555 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXKmksZNeuY Looks pretty neat to me. Of course that may change after operating one for awhile!!!
I contacted a grader operator in western australia who has been operating a komatsu GD 555-5 grader for the last 6 months and he is extremely happy with it, previously he was on a 12H cat, when i asked for a comparision, he preferred the komatsu. Also, a neighboring shire purchased a 12m series 1 caterpillar grader and didn't like it, two years later when they had to replace another two graders, they bought 770 and 670 G deere graders, thats from a shire and long term operators who have always been caterpillar biased!!!!! Here is a link to some pictures of the komatsu grader,
Those pics have sold me on Komatsu over CAT. If they can just get the junk metal factor out, and probably have by now. What is the price of the GD555-5 Komatsu and a comprable Deere?
Fellas that are knocking the steering on the M probably dont have but 100 hrs seat time on it. Yes the steering is tricky and yes it takes awhile to master, but once you do you will love it. When i first got on a 14M and was blading the haul road my windrow looked like a snake crawled down the road, i was all over the place because i wasnt used to the steering and was griping it way to tight, after a few weeks and after i figured out the best way to keep control was just using my finger tips to run it i was fine. I am very comfortable with the M series, have roaded them many times down narow two lane roads at top gear, and have done precision MM grading with them, and shouldered up, i would never run an H again unless i had to
vapor300, Put that M Series to work fine grading between concrete forms and see how long you last. That's where they separate the finish men from the "operators". No offense intended, but it's a fact.
Vapor, Not really knocking the M series as I'm sure with practice you will get better, no doubt about it. But have you ever blue topped free hand next to curb and gutter? I'm talking about cleaning it up so that a labor is not shoveling that little windrow away from the curb. very delicate work. The steering didn't bother me near as much as the buttons that control the blade sideshift. You push it very quickly the blade moved at least 3 inches sideways. Way to much and to fast for that kind of work. Heck yeah, I'd love to run an M on a haul road or pull ditches and even modest grading. In my line of work, when I have a 1/4 inch tolerance and working next to curb and gutter as well you need slow working machine. or control over it at least. Yeah they now have ultra sonic and all this auto grading stuff but the one I had still didn't rub up against the curb. Once you set it, it was riding about 2 inches from the curb. No way to adjust the head to get it any closer. I finally adjusted to to read the top of the curb rather that the edge of the curb and did the rest freehand. No doubt there is probably better systems out there to correct that problem. A lot of finish blade operators that are running the M is probably using GPS or auto grade of some kind. They are sweet for sure and take a lot of guess work out the project. This is all my opinion, Everyone has their own way and is going to do it different anyway. That's Murphy's Law. I really think that we are getting crazy with electric over Hydraulic too, Cat has gone crazy using it. It all has to do with operator comfort, I guess. Everyone that like the M series over the H series so much ought to have to go run an old 99E for a week or so. You would think that H was Heaven... hahaha.. Have a great day!
I have not ran the M graders, but I have spent time on the newer dozers with all electric control. On them there is adjustable hydraulic response, changeable by the operator to speed or slow the hydraulics. Is there that option on the graders to overcome the problem with the side shift, wheel lean, etc. that you are talking about?
We got our 160M a couple days ago.
Yeah I know what you mean, I have been operating a D-8T for the last four years. It has been a nice change of pace. I got it brand new, got to rip the plastic off the seat. This is the only brand new piece of equipment I have ever gotten in my career. I have almost 8,000 hours on it now. But the electric over hydraulic doesn't work near as good or a fast as it used to. I haven't had too many problems with it but a few. It has three different settings on it for the Hydraulics. The 160 H that I usually run had to go in the shop and they gave me a 140M for a loaner for a couple of days. I was grading a walkway through the park. The first thing I looked for when I got that machine was to change the settings on the Hydraulic. Nope, it didn't have that option at all. But It has had some upgrades and I am sure people has told me that you can now do that. I don't know if you can change the sideshift or not. I have not been around an M for about 3 years. It would be nice if it did have that option. I didn't really have any problem finding the right buttons to do what I wanted to do. but I did realize that all the controls were opposite. The articulation and wheel lean is on the right side on the H and is on the left side on the M Circle is swapped as well. No doubt you would get use to it but how would it be if you were blue topping around a culdesac? I use the blade lifts, wheel lean, articulation and even the blade sideshift. Well this is making the left hand do all of the adjustment except the right blade lift. I'm sure it is a matter of getting use to it. It's kind of like living in a house for 30 years and then moving. You tend to drive home to the old house not thinking hahaha... Heck I can tell you another story, I went to work for a contractor who had a John Deere 772. It was a pretty good blade but it had electric over Hydraulic and the blade lifts are both on the right side of the steering wheel. Anyone else out there ran one of those? Well it also has a shuttle (forward and revers) on the left side. (about where the left blade lift is on the cat) I wasn't thinking one day and went to raise the blade and slammed that sucker in reverse. Scared the bejeebers out of me. I didn't do it ever again but it just shows you that you get in the habit of doing certain things. I even have a little trouble with the differential lock on the H and G series. They are totally different. One thing for sure. I think if you get on an M you should stay there. At least for us older folks. I wouldn't want to be changing back and forth all of the time.
If I had to run an M series. I'd like to have the 160 M over any others (I think) The 160 H I have not is a horse. It's always had more power than you need. We didn't get it new but only had about 3200 hours on it when we got it. It has about 15,000 now. It is a VHP Is your new one VHP? I was kind of thinking that is about standard on the 160. Send a picture or two..
Yes the default setting are very fast, but these new M's series you can set you valves up so that you can sit there and hold the lever or button for 30 seconds and the blade will move half an inch. The hardest thing ive had to do was shoulder up, or i thought was hard anyways. I usually work on mass grading sites and am usually finishing mainline so that they can lay rock down, and when we do that we run MM gps since we have a tolerance of .0200, im younger generation so that probably why i like the M series so much. I have heard that with the new M series that its almost impossible to cut hub's since of the elctric over hydro, guys say that you cant feel it when you hit the hub like you can with an H
And the New M2's have even more options, is the 8T your on a new tier 4, or older tier 3??? I got a brand new 8T when we did the intermodal facilty in KS and it was a tier 3 and your right it only has 3 settings, think default, fine and one other one, i wasnt worth a damn in an of the settings but default, the one setting was so fast it was almost impossbile to keep a clean smooth cut, and the other was just to slow. But on the new tier4 6T's you can make your own, its pretty cool, and i bet you can do this on the 7E's 8T's and new M2's
Bluetop man, About 6 months ago the komatsu was priced at $300,000 dollars australian , and the deere with conventional control levers was $330,000 australian. My grader in the avatar has a frame that is made out of putty, very soft, but my brother's GD 555-3 is a lot stronger, no bits of metal curl on it at all so l would say they have improved the metal quality. His machine has about 9,500 hours on it and the only major hassle it has had is a front end rebuild, a bit disappointing, considering he would be one of the most meticulous blokes around when it comes to greasing and maintenance of a machine. cheers.
I pretty sure it is tier 3. Only has thee settings on it. Fast default and slow. Our company rented one of those d-7e's. it was different for sure. It doesn't have a decelerator pedal. But you could only set three different Dozer modes on it. But it had a slew different travel speeds
If it was a new D7E i know it did, are company just bought 20-30 tier4 machines and the guy that designed the computer system for the tier4 dozers came down and showed us all the neat tricks. You can actually control your blade and rippers using the computer screen buttons, its pretty fancy.
Yup it was a new one. The computer screen was a lot smaller than the one on my D-8 but unless I was doing it wrong it only had three choices. Maybe it was one that needed a software update?? I only ran it a couple of days. It was surprising how well it did run. Was he running the Dozer in the service mode?? I'm pretty sure you can do that on my 8 you can put it in limp home mode.
I have no idea, he just showed me what all you can do in service mode, but you got to have a password. Go to cats page on youtube and watch all the videos of the new M2, its pretty cool.
Yeah. I can calibrate several things on mine in the service mode. You are still pretty limited as to what you can do there. I'll have to check out the m2 videos
yeah, who you working for down in joplin? Im guessing your out of 101?
Good God, I'm feelin OLD, I remember when the only screen on a machine was to keep the chaf out of the radiator......and the only computer sat on a guys shoulders.....I'm so happy I could retire when I did. Clyde
How long have you been retired Clyde? Oh yes, This whole world has went computer crazy. You can't even get a mechanic to look at any of this new stuff unless they bring their laptop along. And they won't hardly do anything if it isn't logging a code on the computer. Lots and lots of changes in the last 10 years. I only have 4 to go and I can join you at the fishin hole hahaha.
I retired out of the 150 2 years ago absolutely lovin it....I'm not a fan of all this electric/hydraulic, this is my favorite ride I can fix it along side the road if needed and without a laptop. I'll save ya some bait.
What a kewl ride. Wish the picture was bigger. Some of the Elec/Hydro is fine but others is not. It's ok when it's new and working fine but when it starts going bad it's a son of a gun to figure it out. I always thought the Hydraulic in the Cat H & G was pretty good. You still had a little feel for it. I try not to let any of it bother me nowdays as I on the downhill side. I really can't complain about any of it as I've had it pretty good where I work. Been with the same company for 21 years now. Hey you can even work on that ole truck with standard tools huh? Or maybe just a cresent wrench hahaha.
I run a JD 770G and very satisfied with it except 1 thing.... No opening window, what was Deere thinking!!!! We also have a Volvo grader 3 years older than mine and looks like a toy when parked beside my 770G. But it has a side slider window... Great feature !!!!!!!!!
Cat doesn't have a side slider either. The who object is to keep all doors and windows shut because they are all pressurized cabs. Keeps the dust and some toxins out. I ran a JD 772 years ago. It was a decent machine. I wouldn't want to cut grade with it but for what I was doing it was strong and that 6 wheel drive was great.
I agree on keepin the dust and crap out, but on those perfect conditions days I love the fresh air.
Yeah it's understandable. Blading a county road on a mountain road, It's hard to beat. That's when I just lock the doors open :cool2
Even as a younger operator, I am not to fond of the M series. I was broke in by old cable hoe/dozer and knucklebuster hands so i had to learn and get good on the old stuff, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I started out on an old pacer 300 and have ran g and h series 12's, 14's and 16's some champions and galions and loved every second in them. The m I just don't care for, sorry, it's how I feel. It is a strong tractor and does run good, I just miss the rack and wheel. I run the m when i have to, but when I have choice I always open up the front window and grab a handful of levers.
Thanks, M.James. I reckon the next question to fill in the blanks is, how much for a CAT of similar specs?
About 2 or 3 years ago the next door shire council paid about $380,000 dollars, australian. That would include goods and services tax. Those other figures l quoted didn't include the 10 percent tax. I have recently heard that cat have dropped there prices a bit on their graders, but that could be just rumour.
A couple pictures of our 160M. It is a VHP Plus
Looks good. Is that going to be yours? I wish I had those wide tires on my 160H. It has 14:00 - 24 on it and I think they are too small for that heavy of a machine. Is that a factory front attachment group? It looks alot different that the others that I have seen.
The front attachment is from a Craig Vee Plow. We modified our dozer so the lift will work on it. There is also a wing going on it next week. I had the last new one so I still run a 2007 140H. They bought me a Capital I One Way Plow and it will also be installed next week. We don't have hardly any snow this winter so it might not get used.
Hey CAT140H, what's with that Dollie thing attached to the black 1-way. I've never seen anything like it on a plow before. I've seen similar things on power brooms that attach to back-hoe's, loaders, etc. just wondering is all
OK, converted those would be in U.S. dollars rounded off: Komatsu $321 000 Deere $357 000 CAT $411 000 Wow. A ninety thousand dollar spread. Still, the legendary reliability and resale value of CAT has to be considered. Then it must be factored that only the M Series is now available from CAT, joy sticks only. That rules out CAT for me. So it's a tossup between Deere with it's optional industry standard controls and Komatsu with same. Having no experience with either brand, I leave it up to the forum members who do to make the pick.
That puppy looks like it ought to have a lot of lift for sure. The front plow I had several years ago was a balderson two way. It did have those big tires on the back. Just a couple of flat shoes
That's how this company makes them here in Saskatchewan. They don't use shoes anymore. That's why the tires. There is a shoe beside the tire on the outlet side because they found with a load on the plow on the outlet side it would blow the tire. A number of RM's have them and the grader men seem to like them
So I assume you gotta adjust the wheels affair bit since they wont wear down with the blades like a shoe would.
My first new Deere didn't have AC. Had to run with windows/doors open or cook. In 1995 we bought a new machine with AC. I've not opened a window or door since. Can't even thing of a reason to. I keep the inside of my machine dust free. We trade every four years and our trade-ins always still have the "new machine" smell in the cab.
Yeah us Missouri guys like to keep out of the humidity too. I had a real hard time adjusting to that when I first moved here. In Colorado and New Mexico it is a dryer climate and just a fan or cool breeze feels good. Not always true here. Almost all of our equipment now has AC and it sure is nice to keep the inside nice, Clean and cool. I do miss that area sometimes but life has been good here too. Hope your doing good up north of here. If I remember right you said you was up north of KC didn't you? This crazy weather we are having. Nice Friday, rain Saturday and nice Sunday, rain Monday and nice again today but hey,,, it's still February so can't complain about any of it. See ya!
I found on CATS smaller dust particulates still get into the cab and stay in circulation. Those are the worst for silicosis because they go deep into the lungs before depositing. I prefer to run a cab machine with the doors locked open and the air on. Works for me, although the filters must be cleaned more often. That said, I really prefer an open ROPS. Glass will fool you cutting grade. All the front glass (3) on earlier G model CATS was hinged to open. Reckon as to how that's not so much a problem with GPS these days. Also, I always figured if I ever started to back over somebody on the ground, I would hear the screaming sooner with open glass or no glass before I maimed their ***.
Yeah the older Cats didn't do near as good as the newer ones are. I used to run with the front glass opened on my G series blade too. I agree it is easier to see. But as far as hearing someone screem?? The old G series was a lot noisier too.. We had a bridge job several years ago and it was about an 12 inch jump up on the deck and we didn't want anyone crossing the bridge so they had me park the blade across the road for the night. Big mistake. Someone broke every window out of that sucker. I had to road it back to the shop like that to get it fixed. Only about 1 mile or so but it was so darn noisy I couldn't hardly stand it. Open cab is ok, although I've never ran one like that, But you are down where it is a little warmer than us and it would only be ok part of the year.
Yeah, I'm six miles from Iowa on I35. We've been getting damp days off and on, but no measurable rainfall. It's very dry here. I've been working at my farm clearing brush and leveling dirt with my tractor. No worries about getting stuck, even in the normally wet spots.
In my world I'm maintaining limestone gravel poured on Missouri clay. Very dusty conditions. Sometimes in late Summer if blading in the direction of a gentle breeze the dust will stay with you so bad you have to stop and let it clear because you can't see the roadway or blade. With the first grader I had to run with the cab open. After a couple hours you couldn't tell what color my clothing or hair was. I was totally covered in lime dust. I'll take a few small particles that might slip thru the filtration over that. The newer Deere machines have excellent cab filtration. A light dusting inside the cab a couple times a year keeps it clean.
They work good when they work. My D-8 air conditioner went on the fritz today. Yeah yeah, air condition in the middle of winter you say!! It get plenty hot in the cab with all of that glass. I'll run the air just about all of the time. I had to open the side glass and it was getting dusty inside pretty quick. I hate that too. I like to keep it clean inside. Do you have very much of that red rocky dirt up there? We have a lot here and some of it is flint rock and gets sharp as razor blades sometimes. I think I only have a few more weeks on the dozer and then I'm back on a blade. Hey I might have to learn all over hahaha..
Limestone is always dusty to beat Hades. Clay particulates are extremely fine. So you are getting hammered double time. A pulmonary function test can measure the extent (or not) of silicosis. It's paramount to maintain the proper level of moisture while blading material both to keep the dust down and prevent aggregate segregation. Yeah, right. That really happens a lot. :Banghead
I run the AC compressor all the time, regardless of temps. Keeps the humidity down in the cab to help with window fogging. Our dirt is either Missouri Clay or black top soil. Mostly clay. Sometimes our quarries will get into a thin layer of flint rock in their pit. Everyone complains when that happens because as you said it splinters very sharp. People start having a lot of flat tires from driving on it.
Yeah I run mine just about all the time too. We run 20 ply tires on our blades. It helps a lot. They sure can get cut up a lot on some jobs.
Too new to start a new thread, but anyone have input on best compact grader? Thinking fiat allis 65c or champion c80 to finish off building pads. Site is too tight for a 140 sized blade, but too big to finish with a skip loader. Would be my first blade.....
Had to plow snow in NH today.
A building site has to be fairly big to justify a motor grader on account the front tires are always going over the edge. For that reason I always preferred a small six-way-blade dozer over a grader for such work. Good luck finding a bluetop dozer operator these days. 'Course, with these new whizz-bang GPS systems of today, that won't be such a problem. I never got too far along with GPS, but did manage to master the one system I was exposed to. While it was one of the earlier editions, it did work, albeit slowly, but it was accurate to the max. I found two unequivocable things about GPS grading. One, the operator must be trained and allowed to access the the device and tune it to his needs. "Surveyors" and "foremen" and "superintendents" who want to be in sole control of the settings are the reason GPS has failed for many companies. *** do they know about grading out? Two, I will never, ever wait on a GD stake runner again. If an outfit does not have GPS on it's finish machines, I won't take the job. F-'em.
Anyone have any experience with the JD 870's or the big Volvos? I might be in the market this spring and there are some low hour 870's, 872's and 960 Volvos kicking around for reasonable prices. Far less than a 14H anyway. I will just be grading haul roads and plowing snow so brute strength is more important than finesse.